Tearing Away (Fatally Flawed Book 1)

by Lassetter, Dusty

  After dropping off Candice, I head straight to the mall. Candice’s birthday is in two weeks and I have to find her something she will love. An hour later, I’m starting to go crazy when I walk by the only store I haven’t been in yet. Right there on display is the perfect gift. I walk in telling the clerk to bag it. She looks at me, judging on whether I can afford it or not. I make good money fighting. I’m not always the favorite, so betting on myself has allowed me to triple my money on occasions. This snob doesn’t make shit working a forty-hour week here. I tilt my head at her, and daring her with my eyes to say something. She gets the message and starts doing what I asked. I throw the money down on the counter telling her to keep the change.

  I arrive home just in time for our annual Sunday night dinner with Dalton’s family. We always eat at our house, Carolina and Trevor bring the groceries. While she cooks, us boys will hang out by the T.V. and watch any game that is on. Carolina knows about the fight coming up, and does a good job of cooking something that is within my diet.

  I start to walk up the path leading to the front door but stop when I hear voices coming from the backyard. I walk around the house seeing everyone is outside sitting around the patio table talking while Trevor is cooking off the grill.

  “Jasper, grab a beer and join us. Mom was just telling us about an old drunk lady at her last charity dinner.” Dalton says when he notices me coming around the corner.

  “Nah, can’t drink that shit before a fight man.” I say while pulling out a seat.

  “I’ve been waiting on my tickets for your fight Jasper,” Carolina says, “Please tell me you haven’t already forgotten that Trevor and I are your biggest fans.”

  “It’s true.” Trevor says, looking over his shoulder at us. “I wear the same t-shirt to bed every night. It has your nickname on it, The Finisher.” Everyone starts laughing, including myself.

  “Roy is getting me some tickets for the show, as soon as I get them you will be the first to know.”

  “Would you happen to be getting one for this new girl Dalton has told us about?” Carolina questions looking at me expectantly.

  I look over at Dalton who is busy picking pretend dirt out of his nails, “Yeah, but she is not into the fighting scene, so she might not want to watch.”

  I have thought about it a lot eventually coming to a decision. After last night when she told me about her childhood. I think it’s best to let her choose between sitting in the audience or waiting for me in my dressing room. I’m fine either way, just as long as she is there.

  “Why don’t you bring her to dinner next week, allow us to meet her in a normal environment?” Carolina asks.

  “Mom she is a skittish girl. She won’t like your constant chattering.” Dalton says.

  “I do not chatter constantly,” Carolina argues. “Right honey?” she asks, looking over at Trevor.

  “I love the sound of your voice. Your chattering doesn’t bother me.”

  Everyone at the table laughs when Carolina throws a wadded up napkin at him when he walks over to sit the food on the table. The food looks amazing. You can never go wrong with steak. We all begin to eat while chatting about our days and making the plans for Dalton’s annual Halloween party. Trevor reminds us not to let anyone drink and drive, he would rather have two houses full of sleeping teenagers, than a hospital full of worried parents. After we have stuffed our stomachs full, we all pitch in to get the patio cleaned, while Carolina takes care of the dishes in the house. Once everything is cleaned up, we all say our goodbyes.

  After my shower, I sit at my desk grabbing my laptop out to write my English paper. It’s not due for another week but I like to stay ahead of my work. The subject is Greek Mythology’s King Tantalus. Was his punishment suitable to his crime or were the Gods being hypocritical? Growing up with a mother who does not give a shit about anyone but herself, I can honestly say yes. The punishment was suitable for the crime. Anyone willing to kill his or her kid deserves a long-term stay in hell.

  Finished with my essay, I stand up to stretch my muscles. It’s almost midnight, but I’ll stay awake for hours, just tossing and turning in bed not getting any sleep. There has never been a night I’ve slept through. Growing up it was hard on my body, but I have gotten used to it. It’s like my body adapted to four hours of sleep a night. I check my alarm on my phone one last time, I don’t want to be late picking up Candice tomorrow, so I climb into bed forcing my eyes to stay closed.

  Chapter 19

  Candice

  I walk out of my room dressed for school, wearing a blue tank top with a black cardigan my aunt bought me. My skinny jeans are extra tight but they go great with my new black flats. When I reach the door to the kitchen I notice I can’t hear my aunt or uncle talking. Not thinking too much of it, I fling the swinging door open with my hand coming to an immediate stop when I see everyone staring at me.

  My aunt is in the middle of the group holding a homemade cake in the shape of a pumpkin that reads Happy Birthday Candice. To her left is Uncle Troy and to her right is Izzy. Standing in the back, towering over them is Jasper, Dalton, and K.J. I give K.J. a weird look, not really understanding why he is here. I don’t see him as the birthday celebrating type. Noticing, he points over at Jasper.

  Aunt Stacy is walking towards me with Izzy still at her side, both of them singing Happy Birthday to me. The guys are standing there, arms crossed, seemingly bored with the whole thing. Just as I’m about to blow out my eighteen candles, Dalton reminds me to make a wish, looking around I realize all my wishes from my childhood birthdays have come true. All I ever asked for was a family, and I now have one. Instead of wishing for something, I just blow out the candles, not wanting to be too greedy in the wish department.

  We all gather around the island, Izzy is cutting the cake and passing around pieces. Jasper comes up behind me, gathering me into his arms. The feeling I get when he wraps his arms around me is one I never want to forget. The warmth from his body, the hardness of chest, and his strong-arms all work together to make me feel protected plus fragile at the same time. He bends his head down whispering into my neck as he kisses me, “Happy Birthday.” He says making his way up to my ear, “Maybe later after the party I can give you your birthday spankings.”

  I choke on the bite of cake I had just put in my mouth. He starts chuckling behind me, patting my back as everyone looks on. After I catch my breath and swallow down the cake with the help of water that my Uncle Troy gives me, I clear my throat, “Sorry, the cake went down wrong.”

  “Do you need me to get you a new glass of water?” my aunt ask. I just shake my head no in response. I’m too busy staring daggers at Jasper over my shoulder.

  “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll give you one in front of everyone right now.” He says in my ear.

  “You wouldn’t dare.” I mumble under my breath, thinking he wouldn’t hear me.

  Before I can take my next breath, I’m spun around and lifted up and over Jasper’s shoulder. He turns to everyone, “We don’t want to be late, so we are leaving.” Then his hand comes down on my butt, “That’s one.” He says with amusement in his voice.

  I start to wiggle around, being vocal with my anger, “Put me down you big brute.”

  His hand comes down again, “That’s two, would you like another sweet heart?”

  I raise my head, looking around at the people I consider my family for help, but the traitorous group are only laughing at my predicament. Knowing when not to fight a battle I have no chance of winning, I just relax by body allowing my cave dweller to carry me to the truck.

  School went by fast today, everyone talking about the party tonight at Jasper’s house. I tried to get out of going but Jasper was not going to take no for an answer. He did so kindly tell me I didn’t have to dress up, because he never does. I would love to say how pleased I am about not having to do the costume thing, but Izzy has talked me into being Aphrodite for the night. In fact, she got Aunt Stacy on her side and we all went t
o the Halloween store together.

  I’m in my bathroom trying to figure out what to do with my hair, when I hear someone knock on the door. I walk to the door. Opening it, I see Aunt Stacy standing there looking at me.

  “Sorry to bother you, it’s just you’ve been in here for a while, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

  “I’m fine, a bit nervous is all. I don’t really know what to do with my hair.”

  She looks at me tilting her head just the slightest bit, “Follow me dear. I have just what you need.”

  I follow her across the house, eventually ending up in her room, standing in front of a huge vanity. There is so much stuff laying around, my eyes don’t know what to focus on first. She pats the chair in front of the mirror, “Sit.”

  “I am going to fix your hair then do your make-up. Is it alright if I pin it out of your face?” She asks me while turning the chair away from the mirror. I shake my head yes remembering the past two weeks. Jasper has made it his mission, to prove to me, that the scars are just that, scars. They are not something that can hurt me. It helps that no one really notices them. He managed to talk me into wearing a short sleeve shirt around our group, and then eventually to school. I figure there is no better night then my eighteenth birthday to shed the scared timid girl, in exchange for the brave beautiful woman.

  When my aunt is finished she turns me around toward the mirror. I don’t recognize the girl staring back at me. My mom had some old photos in a box under her bed I would sometimes look through. Just random pictures of her when she first met Christopher. In the earlier ones, you could see her eyes were bright with happiness, then over time they clouded with sadness. until eventually they dimmed out completely. Looking in the mirror, I see my mom in those early photos, and I realize Jasper is doing the opposite of Christopher. He is breathing the life back into me. The life I once thought was not worth living.

  Chapter 20

  Jasper

  Dalton is ordering around the freshman he bribes to do all the decorating. In return they are allowed to attend the party. I have been listening to his bitching for way to long now, and it has me on edge. The house looks like a graveyard this year. There are random Styrofoam trees and tombstones throughout rooms. They changed all the light bulbs to black lights then added at least twenty strobe lights. When you factor in the fake smoke, all the freshman zombie actors, you get an idea of what really goes on in Dalton’s head. K.J. and I never dress up for this party regardless of all the bitching Dalton does. He tries to manipulate us every year to buy a costume. This year he has come up for prizes for best outfit. There will be three winners. Third place gets one hundred dollars, second gets two, and first gets five hundred. Too bad for him we can’t be bought.

  He went over the top this year, hiring a professional make-up artist. Johnny Depp is hard to pull off, especially his role in Pirates of the Caribbean. Dalton chose to be him from the first movie in that series. The skin you can see is painted to look like a skeleton, and he is wearing that stupid hat, carrying around a compass harassing the girls while claiming to look for booty.

  People have started to arrive dressed to impress. I’ve seen just about every costume you can think of plus several nearly naked girls. There is one guy here that is dressed as pin head, asking people to open his box. The only problem is the box happens to be attached to the front of his pants. I haven’t seen anyone stupid enough to open it. Sitting in the living room, off in the corner with K.J., my phone vibrates in my pocket. Taking it out, I read the text saying Candice will be here soon.

  “Candice?” K.J ask, looking down at my phone.

  “Yeah, she’s letting me know her and Izzy are almost here.”

  “Did she decide to dress up?”

  “Yeah, but she never told me what she picked.” I say stretching out my legs, “Her and Izzy both.”

  “Knowing that friend of hers, there is no telling what those two picked out.” He says, while taking a drink from his cup.

  I’m looking over at him smiling, when I see his face go blank, and he starts to cough on the drink he just took. Turning my head to look in the direction he is staring at, I’m struck by the beauty that is my girl. Dressed as a Greek Goddess. She is in a white long sleeved dress, with most of the material being a sheer fabric. The dress is layered draping around her flowing down to the floor. Her hair is curled on top of her head with some strands falling down the sides, framing her face. She has on some light make-up that makes her eyes look bigger and brighter.

  There are blue flowers, forming a crown on her head, making her look like the true goddess of beauty. I hear someone clear their throat beside me. Looking over I see Dalton has come up between K.J. and me smiling. I snap out of the trance my little vixen has unknowingly put me in gesturing for her to come to me. I want to see her walking toward me in that dress.

  When she reaches me, she looks up into my eyes looking nervous and shy, making it impossible not to touch her.

  “You’re beautiful.” Is all I can manage to say, before pulling her to me kissing those sweet lips.

  “Sorry to interrupt.” Izzy says pulling on Candice’s arm, “But we just got here and we don’t need you messing up her hair.”

  Breaking away from Candice, I look over at Izzy, finally getting a look at her costume. I thought K.J.’s reaction to them walking in was meant toward Candice. Looking over Izzy’s shoulder, I now see it was because of her. He is currently staring holes into her back, and grinding his teeth, in a way I’m sure his dentist would not appreciate.

  Izzy stands tall and confident in a black leather dominatrix outfit. The sides of the leather pants are split open laced together with a red ribbon/ Showing bare skin all the way up her thigh to her hip. The top is a low cut corset with her boobs barely staying contained. There is a pattern of red lace throughout the front. To top it all off, she has on thigh high black leather boots, with a crop tucked in the right boot. She has her hair pinned back in a sleek ponytail and her make up is dark enough to make her look well over eighteen.

  “Damn Izzy, who knew there was a freak hidden behind the geek!” Dalton says, while walking up to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

  “Be careful little boy or I’ll have to take out this crop and punish you in front of our friends.” Izzy says, looking at Dalton under her eyelashes.

  “I don’t mind a woman in control, hell I don’t mind people watching, you just described one of my wet dreams baby.”

  “Shut the fuck up.” K.J. says, “No one wants to watch that shit, take her to your room asshole.”

  Izzy squares her shoulders grabbing Candice by the hand, “Come on, I’m thirsty let’s go get something to drink.”

  “Umm, okay, but all I want is water,” Candice tells her while looking at me over her shoulder, “Are you coming Jasper?”

  “Like I would let you go by yourself,” I say grabbing her other hand, making Izzy slow down and walk at my pace. “Do you even know me at all woman?”

  When we make it outside, the girls see the pool, and Izzy squeals with delight while Candice shakes her head with disbelief. Dalton has turned the entire pool into a cooler full of just about every alcohol you can think of, adding up to a total of five grand. I know because I saw the order slip sitting on the island. He had to hire someone to drain the pool of the chlorine water yesterday. Today he had two trucks full of ice delivered, throw in some dry ice, and you have the full Halloween effect.

  The pool is crowded with people, there has to be well over one hundred people here already, plus more on the way. I move toward Izzy trying to ask her what she wants, when some douche bag dressed like a mafia man in a black suit, slides up to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders at the same time he tries to hand her an open beer.

  I grab the little piss ant by the collar yelling over the music blaring from the speakers about thirty feet from us, “Fuck off!”

  As soon as I release him, he scurries off, surely to avoid me for the rest of the
night. “Have you lost your damn mind, don’t you know not to take open drinks from strangers at parties?”

  “He seemed nice, besides I didn’t have time to take anything from him. You attacked him as soon as he touched me.”

  “Attack is a strong word Elizabeth,” K.J. says appearing from the shadows, “More like advised him to keep his slimy hands to himself.”

  “Really…” Izzy says sneering at him, “Because his hands didn’t feel slimy to me at all, maybe I’ll go find him and ask for a dance. Then maybe I can feel more than just his hands.”

  “I’m not someone to play with.” K.J. says taking a step toward her, “If I see you dance with that asshole, you will regret it.”

  Izzy turns on her heel stomping off toward the house. Looking over at K.J. I can see the victory smile on his face, he winks at Candice and me, then disappears into the shadows again.

  I look over at Candice and she is looking around at all the gyrating bodies dancing to “Closer”, by Nine Inch Nails.I pull her closer to me, “You want to go to my room?” I say into her ear, so she can hear me over the music, “I want to give you your birthday present.”

  “What about Izzy, I shouldn’t leave her by herself.”

  “Izzy will be fine. K.J. seems to be keeping an eye on her.”

  We move through the crowd easily, not allowing people to touch you has its benefits. Opening the door to my room, I leave enough space between me and the door for Candice to walk through. Her eyes grow wide as she lets out a shaky breath.

  Sixty-six long stim white roses are placed all around the room, candles lighting up the space, surrounded with photos of her, in various sizes, I took from my phone. There is one from the diner. she is smiling at something Dalton had said, looking beautiful and carefree. Then the time we spent a whole Saturday watching movies and listening to music. I talked her into letting me show her some more wrestling moves. My favorite is the one I took the night she told me about her mother. She is sleeping, with her hair fanned out across my pillow, looking like an Angel laying there so peaceful. Her lips still swollen from our time in the shower.